Deadly twin blasts rock central Baghdad, dozens killed

BAGHDAD: Twin explosions in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad have killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 100, police and medical sources said.
Monday’s attacks were carried out by two suicide bombers, who detonated their belts in a crowd of workers at the Al Tayaran Square in central Baghdad, Iraq’s interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said.
The interior ministry put the death toll at at least 16 with 65 wounded.
Medical sources say the death toll is expected to rise, with many critically injuried.
Al Tayaran is a major intersection in eastern Baghdad between Sadr city and al-Jumariyah bridge over the Euphrates river. All roads into the square have now been closed.
Video footage posted on Twitter by the Kurdish Rudaw news agency showed the extent of the damage.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet.
On Saturday, a number of people were killed and others, including police, wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a security checkpoint near Aden Square, north of Baghdad.
No group claimed responsibility for that attack.
Eight people were also killed in a suicide bombing on Sunday in the al-Tarmiyah area in northern Baghdad.
In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), marking the end of a three-year war to drive the armed group out of Iraq.
Ahmed Rushdi, director of the House of Iraqi Expertise Foundation, said the recent attacks show “huge errors” in the intelligence network of the capital city.
“This shows to the people that even Haider al-Abadi’s major victories against Daesh (ISIL’s Arabic acronym) cannot control Baghdad,” the security analyst told Al Jazeera.
“It’s a huge problem because people thought that Daesh [ISIL] is over now, but it is sending messages that no, actually they are still there,” Rushdi said from Baghdad.

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